CPTnet
March 22, 2002
COLOMBIA: Letter from Lisa Martens

[The following February 20 letter from Lisa Martens to her supporters has
been edited for length and clarity.]

Hi folks.
Things are pretty crazy around here; it feels like one emergency after
another... Actually, it IS.

Life is beautiful.
People non-violently struggling to live free are amazing.
War is evil.

First, a bit of analysis of what you may have been seeing in the media:

1) You may have heard that those FARC / guerrilla / rebel-type people are
being uncooperative in negotiations with the Colombian government.

Lisa's analysis #1: True enough. FYI: The FARC controls roughly half of
the country, though the actual map of their control areas morphs often. The
FARC and other guerrilla groups are corrupt and violent. I have no
particular love for them except insofar as I'm working on loving enemies,
but note, re: lack of cooperation in negotiations: You can believe the
government hasn't been real charming either.

Lisa's analysis #2: Guess who does about 80% of the violent political acts
in this country (including massacres using chainsaws)? It's NOT the FARC.
Its the ultra right-wing paramilitaries. Though it is veiled, there are
connections between the paramilitaries and the army / navy and therefore
the government.

2) You may have heard that the US is giving a huge sum for the armed
protection of an oil line here in Colombia; adding that to the
ga-strillions of dollars worth of military hardware and training that they
already give.

Lisa's analysis #1: Its all very complicated

Lisa's analysis #2: Its all very simple. The US is pouring more weapons
into a violent situation, and it has to do with US (and others') control
over the resources of Colombia and the resources of the rest of South
America

I get pretty angry sometimes, friends, family, elders of mine, kind ones. A
high percentage of my friends here (who are not part of any armed group and
do not support any armed group) are under death threat, and they've been
watching their friends get killed and disappeared. What's that about?

On a different note, I've been reading a bit of the poet RUMI, lately; poet
from the 1200's, and i'm practically in love with him. Here's a little bit
of him before I sign off :

I called through your door,
"The mystics are gathering
in the street. Come out!"
"Leave me alone.
I'm sick."
"I don't care if you're dead!"
Jesus is here and he wants
to resurrect somebody!"

I really hope you are all well, good people.
I miss you
Lisa